The essential categories for “news”

I really like the new simplified structure of The Washington Post’s mobile site, as reported by Online Media Daily.

Mobile’s size really forces publishers to really parse news into the most essential categories, the fewer the better. For the Post, those categories are: top stories; politics; business; metro; arts & living; sports; and a going out guide.

More importantly, these categories are simple words. Unlike newspaper section names, they are instantly understood.